WASHINGTON, Dec 15, 2010 (AFP) – The United States and China agreed Wednesday to pursue free trade in areas from agriculture to technology, but Beijing insisted that Washington needed to loosen its own export controls.

Top officials from the world’s two largest economies met for two days in Washington to try to iron out persistent tensions — including over the value of China’s currency, which the United States says is artificially low.

AFP file – The United States and China agreed to pursue free trade in areas from agriculture to technology

President Barack Obama’s administration, which has been hit hard by economic worries, offered an upbeat take on the talks and highlighted China’s willingness to restart talks on resuming US beef imports.

The United States said China also pledged to remain “neutral” on the technological standards for third-generation telephones along with smart grids, so as to permit market access for American companies.

“We were able to make progress on significant issues in a number of areas, and on other issues we have established channels that will allow us to continue our robust engagement and pursue timely solutions,” Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan, who headed the 100-strong Chinese delegation, said the two sides had a “candid exchange of views on China-US economic cooperation.”

“We’ve reached many agreements and produced positive outcomes,” he told reporters.

But the Chinese side also called for the United States to relax its export controls — turning the tables on the United States, which frequently presses Beijing to open its markets.

“In our efforts to increase our imports, we very much hope that those countries still having a trade deficit vis-a-vis China could lift or relax export controls towards China,” Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said.

“Therefore if the United States could offer substantial export facilitation to China, and allow an increase of its exports to China, this would be a help against the high unemployment rate in the United States today,” he said.

The United States restricts a range of goods to China that are “dual-use” — meaning that the technology could be put to military use. US businesses have also long worried about counterfeiting of products in China.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that China agreed to do more to crack down on theft of intellectual property theft.

“We expect to see concrete and measurable results, including increased purchase and use of legal software, steps to eradicate the piracy of electronic journals, more effective rules for addressing Internet piracy and a crackdown on landlords who rent space to counterfeiters in China,” Kirk said.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack pointed to “progress” over US beef, which was banned by China among other countries in 2003 over concerns about mad-cow disease.

“Technical talks will resume as soon as possible with the goal of reopening China’s market in early 2011,” Vilsack said.

US officials said that China also pledged to keep off the books rules on “indigenous innovation,” which state that high-tech goods must hold Chinese intellectual property rights. China rescinded such guidelines early this year after an international outcry.

Topping other concerns, US officials — and particularly members of Congress — have pressed China to let its currency appreciate, accusing Beijing of keeping its yuan low to pump out more exports.

Chen said China “has stated again and again its firm position” that it will reform its yuan “to improve the flexibility of the exchange rate regime and also to stabilize the value of the currency.”

But Chen questioned if the size of the US trade surplus had been overestimated, saying that China often exports back finished products made of components imported from the United States.

Such trade “is hardly affected by the fluctuations of currencies,” he said.

Many analysts believe that China is determined to move methodically on its currency rates, fearing that any sudden revaluation would jolt its manufacturing hubs and trigger social instability.

About 4,800 poor farming households in Vietnam’s northern provinces of Thanh Hoa, Hoa Binh, Nghe An, and Phu Tho will receive aid worth more than US$4.1 million from the Spain’s fund for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Vietnamese Government to increase incomes and employment opportunities.

The information was given at a press briefing to introduce the “Green Production and Trade to Increase Income and Employment Opportunities for the Rural Poor” programme on November 25.

The programme is aimed at increasing the sustainable incomes of raw materials growers and processors, and rural crafts and furniture producing households and enterprises, as well as improving policies and regulatory frameworks at the provincial and national levels for the pro-poor promotion of handicrafts and furniture production.

Scheduled to be implemented over the next three years (2010-2012), the programme is expected to contribute to the completion of the MDGs, the reduction of poverty, the implementation of gender equality, and the sustainable environmental development.

At least half of the total cost for national trade promotion programmes is to be funded by the State budget.

The funding – part of a newly-issued prime ministerial decision – will be spent on all trade promotion programmes intended to develop exports and further exploit the domestic market, especially in mountainous, border and island areas.

Under the decision, the development of networks for the distribution of domestic goods and services to the highlands, border zones and islands will be fully funded by the State budget.

In addition, the State will provide complete funding for programmes to advertise and promote the consumption of Vietnam’s goods, especially agricultural produce, in those regions.

The Prime Minister has approved a plan to disburse about 16 billion VND (842,000 USD) from the State budget on trade promotion programmes in border regions this year, said deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Mountainous Area Trade Department Nguyen Van Hoi.

Under the newly-issued decision, funding will also be made available for overseas fact-finding trade missions; international export expos in Vietnam; the examination and research of the domestic market; building a goods-and-services database; short-term business training courses and the forming of retail networks.

Seventy percent of the costs for trade information, market research and the establishment of databases for key export markets will be covered by the decision.

Programmes intended to promote Vietnam’s goods and services in rural and urban areas as well as industrial zones will be entitled to the same aid.

Exhibitions of materials and equipment for agricultural and rural development will be entitled to 50 percent of organisational costs.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said that there had been 56 national trade promotion programmes costing 72 billion VND (3.7 million USD) approved this year.